Be You (Just in a Different Way)
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: Krista just wants to be Krista, the new girl with an unknown past at a new school. Everyone wants a fresh start, and Krista won't let her chance to get one pass her by. Ymir is a girl who just wants to find a little fun in her otherwise boring life. The cute, short new girl is definitely someone worth hanging around. Yumikuri high school AU
1. Chapter 1

It was only when she was in her new homeroom, her backpack opened wide and various items taken from it and put on her graffiti free desk, did she notice just how new everything was. Last year, her folders had pictures of animals and cartoon characters on them, and were made of a plastic like material. This year, they were much simpler, made of thick paper and monochrome colors. Her pencils were mechanical rather than wooden, and her notebooks were thicker than the year before. Not a single piece of paper in them had been touched yet, covered in messy drawings or her tiny, loopy handwriting.

The backpack was new as well, something that she had picked up last minute without looking very closely at it. The size had been what had mattered, and it certainly was large. Looking closer, she saw that though it was black, it also had patches of various dark grey areas.

Just like the high school that she had moved to, everything else was new. Krista took a (brand new) black Sharpie from her bag and began to write her name on the front cover of her new folders and notebooks. She wrote far larger than normal, making sure that whoever saw her notebooks and folders knew exactly who they belonged to.

Her homeroom teacher, a history teacher named Ms. Ral, seemed nice. She was only Krista's homeroom teacher, but she was quite nice; whoever had her for history was very lucky.

Once Krista had finished putting her name on everything that she possibly could, she put everything back in her backpack where it belonged. Later on, once she had an idea of what she needed, she could put some stuff into her locker.

The paper listing her classes was already crinkled. She bit her lip. If this were to start to rip or fade, then she would need to get a new one from the office; the teachers had all been told to only print one. She didn't want to go to the office, even if she wasn't in trouble, and she wasn't sure of how quickly she would memorize the rooms of her classes.

The rest of the students in her class were either busy texting, talking, arguing, or scribbling away in their notebooks. No one seemed to notice her, too caught up with their own situations.

The bell rang.

"Remember to stay orderly in the hallways, student." Ms. Ral said. "I hope that you all have a good first day as sophomores."

Yeah right, Krista thought. Once most of these guys are out of here, they'll probably stampede through the hallway. With my luck, I'll just end up getting run over.

She put her backpack on and clutched the straps tightly. This was probably going to be a day to remember.

* * *

HELLO STUDENTS, WELCOME TO THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR! IT'S GOING TO BE LOADS OF FUN!

As if, Ymir thought, her eyes straight on the bright yellow poster above the water fountains. It was covered in multicolored text and smiley faces.

School was a lot like work - it just had to be done. Ymir would do it because there was nothing else that she could do, and she would be damned if she didn't try to get at least some enjoyment out of it.

Still, the kind of fun that Ymir wanted probably was not the same that the poster offered. It had probably been made by some senior desperate to say that they helped the school in their college applications. She gave it four days max before someone took it down, and that was if the tape lasted that long.

So, she thought, think anything amazing will happen to you this year? One of those wonderful moments like in teen movies?

The best part about having mental conversations with herself was that she could reply with anything that she wanted and not get in trouble for it. Most of the time, Ymir would tell herself the truth; still, it was fun to tell herself some bullshit every once in a while.

Oh yes, she thought. This year will be fucking fabulous.

She took one last look at the eye burning yellow poster before leaning down and getting a quick drink of water. By then, the words were memorized in her mind.

* * *

Krista was quite sure that Professor Zoe was going to be her favorite teacher. They were her biology teacher, and their room wasn't covered in the typical teacher brand posters. Instead, magazine and newspaper articles were taped to the walls, along with pictures of animals and insects in various stages of life. They dressed rather casually, and usually were not strict. Only one thing really seemed to bother them, and it was one thing that Krista would never do.

"Professor Zoe, should I use Ms. or Mr.?" a student had asked.

Professor Zoe had frowned. "The term is professor."

"But-"

"The term is professor and professor only."

They had explained how the semester would go, describing various projects and experiments. All of them sounded better than writing papers, and they offered extra credit the very first day. In return for volunteering to clean out their lizard's (named Sonny and Bean) cage every Wednesday, Krista would get fifteen points extra credit each week. She wasn't bad at biology, but she wasn't about to let those practically free points slide away from her.

A dark haired girl came over and sat down beside her. "So you signed up to deal with the lizards too?"

"Oh," Krista said, looking down to her new biology textbook on her desk. "Uh, yeah."

Until then, no one had tried to make conversation with her.

"I could definitely use it. I'm not a big science person."

"Me, I am."

The girl nodded. "So you're Krista, right? Or did I hear the roll call incorrectly?"

"Oh, that's me. And you are?" Unlike the girl, she had only been listening for her name.

"Ymir's the name." She smiled. "I'm guessing that you're new here; I didn't see you last year."

"Yeah, I'm new."

"Where did you move from?"

"It's out of town; you probably never would have heard of it."

Ymir did not question her on the name further. "So, what do you think of Shingashima High?"

"I actually haven't seen all of it yet."

"What do you mean? Didn't you get a personal tour or something, or at least a senior guide?"

Krista shook her head. "I had to find this room myself; they should have also given out maps."

Ymir frowned. "Damn, the school was pretty inconsiderate. Do you want some help, maybe a tour? I know the way around, and I'm glad to give help."

"I'll see." Krista looked down to her schedule. "Thank you."

"Okay." Ymir smiled once more. "And hey, I'll be ready to see you Wednesday afternoon."

* * *

All in all, it had been an okay day. Krista had befriended Ymir (or at least she hoped she had), and also sort of made herself friends with Ymir's friends Sasha and Connie. They had all sat together at lunch. Krista had spent most of it nibbling away at the sandwich that she had brought from home; luckily, the others could fill in for her on their conversations.

The rest of her classes had at least showed promise. No one recognized her, which was good, and everyone called her Krista. It was a perfectly blank slate.

Already, she was stepping into the shoes of Krista Lenz, and no one at school knew her as anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

Krista's ponytail flew through the wind as she rode her bike home. The air was still warm, and would probably lead into a warm autumn. The edges of leaves were just beginning to change color.

Before school had started, Krista had learned the side roads to ride to and from school by heart. Avoiding traffic had become easier, and she had learned more about the new area of town.

Still, her stomach twisted when she rode up in front of her home. Her mother's silver Honda was out front.

Of all the days to get home early, Krista thought, why today?

She got off her bike and walked it to the garage. The inside was mostly empty, save a small table in the furthest right corner to hold tools. She parked her bike up front by the stairs, leaving room for her father to park his car.

Her hand shook as she unlocked the garage door leading into the kitchen, and it took her a few tries to get the key into the lock.

The kitchen was empty when she got inside, but the smell of food engulfed it. Something was in the oven.

"Historia, is that you?" her mother called.

"Yes." She adjusted the weight of her backpack. "You're home early."

Her mother, though it was hard to call her that, entered the kitchen. She had yet to change from her work clothes. Rachel Reiss was tall and dark haired, always standing up straight and exerting confidence. No one questioned her role as a CEO, nor did they doubt the power that she held. Her ebony hair was completely straight and her makeup perfect. There was not a single wrinkle on her suit.

And as much as Lod wanted Krista to think more of her, she just could not.

"I'm home."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "School has yet to stop you from saying the obvious."

For a moment, Krista looked up to her. She kept waiting and waiting for a question or another statement. Instead, the older woman remained silent. The longer Krista stared, the harder Rachel's glare became.

"I'm going to my room."

Rachel nodded.

Compared to the rest of the house, Krista's room was small. It was not nearly as fancy, nor did it have much style. It had no wallpaper (though Krista had started to stick movie and video game posters to make up for the blankness), only a beanbag and a mattress to serve as furniture, and a small closet. Compared to the mansion, it seemed like a forgotten room that never should have been built.

Maybe that was why it was the perfect place for her.

Rarely did anyone come in, leaving Krista in peace. It was always quiet, meaning that she could read her library books and do her homework in peace. There was also a good Internet and phone signal.

Turning on her laptop, Krista looked around the room. It wasn't perfect, but it was her own place.

Once her laptop had turned on, she got on the Internet and went to her blog. Rather than posting about about her life (who would want to hear about that?), she posted book reviews. Occasionally, whenever she saw a movie trailer for something that looked good, then she would go to a nearby theater and then later post a movie review.

She had gotten two new comments on her newest review of the latest Levi Rivaille novel.

tightans49 commented: Thanks for this review! I was really nervous that this book would be awful, just a way for the author to cash in on their previous success, but you helped to reassure me. I'll definitely be picking this up.

Krista grinned. It had certainly been an exciting book.

fighterstyle17 commented: This review rocked. The jokes peppered in between were hilarious; I'm glad that someone enjoyed this as much as I did. Still, I'm nervous about the upcoming movie.

There was going to be a movie?

Quickly, Krista got on Google.

Well, a couple months from now it seemed that she would be posting another movie review.

* * *

The library was mostly empty. The librarian, a tall, dark skinned woman had said hello to her when Krista walked in. Krista had waved.

The book selection was pretty decent. A number of books looked rather old, but they could still be read. Parking herself by the hardcover fiction section, Krista immediately got to looking for something to read.

She hadn't expected to finish her book last night. She had been sure that something would come up to take her away from her book, but nothing had. If Lod wanted to hear about her first day of school, then he did not mention it.

A review was still in the works, but she would not start working on it again until after school. A book would help to shorten the day.

"Want some help?"

Krista froze, her eyes glued to the books in front of her.

"Actually, forget that, I barely know what's in here. I definitely don't know what that Doay De-"

"Dewey Decimal System?"

"Yeah, that. Thanks, Krista. Sorry if I accidentally scared you."

Turning back, Krista looked to Ymir. She had her own backpack with her, along with a brown paper lunch sack in one hand.

"I was looking for you."

"Why?" Krista's voice shook.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were still up for cleaning out Professor Hanjii's lizards' cages this afternoon. It is a Wednesday."

Krista nodded. "Of course."

"Okay, just checking. Some students skip on that stuff."

"It's only the second day of school; it's not like I'm drowning in homework yet."

Ymir smirked. "Me neither. See you at lunch again, Krista?"

She nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

For the first time in her life, Ymir actually gave half a shit about washing her hands (her mother would have been so proud if she knew). She washed them three times under hot water, getting as much of the lizard germs off of her as possible. Those things could have been covered with germs, the kind that carried diseases that only scientists knew how to pronounce.

She didn't want those things on her hands while she ate pizza.

* * *

Ymir waved to Marco. "Hey, dude," she said.

Marco smiled at her. He was wearing an already dirty apron and had his eyes fixed on his phone. "Hi, Ymir, it's good to see you. You're lucky to come here around this time. We've settled down a bit from earlier, but your friends are still here."

"Sweet," Ymir responded. She hitched her thumb to the back of the restaurant. "I'm gonna take a wild guess that they're over there. Am I right?"

Marco looked up at her and nodded. "Just like always."

Ymir turned around.

"Wait."

Slowly, she turned around.

"My parents are making some fresh cinnamon sticks back in the kitchen. Want me to get you guys some?"

Ymir nodded. "How could I ever refuse those? Just make sure to throw the bill on Hitch and bring an extra container of sauce!"

"It's a done deal."

As Marco had said earlier, almost everywhere was empty. A few college students sat at a table, but other than that it was almost deserted. Some tables still needed to be cleaned, though there were more than enough empty spaces if anyone else came in.

At the very back, shielded by some potted plants and sitting next to a large painting, was the table that Ymir and her friends always sat at. A nearly finished pepperoni pizza lay on the table next to some half eaten bread sticks and opened containers of marinara sauce.

"Hey, Ymir!" Sasha waved. There were bits of foods on the side of her mouth, cheeks, and even a bit on the tip of her nose. "Your seat is free as always!"

Ymir pulled the furthest chair out, the one that she always sat at, and plopped down. "You guys didn't eat all the pizza?" She picked up the last soggy piece of pizza. "It's so thoughtful, thinking of little old me."

Hitch snorted. "The pizza's probably cold by now."

"Cold pizza is the best pizza." Ymir took a large bite.

"I agree," Sasha added. She grabbed a half finished bread stick and began to run it around in her container of marinara sauce. "So, where were you? You never responded to our texts."

"Does she ever?" Hannah asked.

Ymir rolled her eyes. "I responded to you before, Hannah."

She raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"Uh," Ymir said. She could picture the moment, though she did not know what month it occurred. "Can I check my phone's history?"

Hannah shook her head. "Whatever, that doesn't matter. So, why were you so late?"

"Yeah," Sasha said. "I was worried about you."

Ymir patted her on the back. "It's good to know that you guys care."

Hitch sighed. "Can you just hurry up and tell us? I was worried that you had actually managed to already get detention."

"Detention? Why, I would never!"

Hitch rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me that my theory is correct."

"Today's your lucky day, but it sure as hell isn't." Ymir placed her half finished slice of pizza down and leaned forward, her elbows propped up on the table. "I decided to volunteer to get some extra credit."

"What?" Hannah asked. "A teacher is giving out extra credit already?"

"More like she's already failing," Hitch responded.

"Hitch, you plan to procrastinate for a living."

"Somebody has to do it."

"What is it?" Sasha asked.

"I'm cleaning out the cages of Professor Zoe's lizards. It's actually kind of cool."

"Oh," Hannah said. "I thought that you meant like writing a paper or making a Powerpoint." Her eyes widened. "So, are their lizards as big as I've heard?"

"Oh yes," Ymir responded. "Professor Zoe has some big lizards. I don't know why they like them so much, but they are cool. Besides, it's better than that year a few years back when they had spiders."

"I thought that was just a school rumor!" Hannah stuck out her tongue. "Okay, we get it, you're working with lizards now. We can discuss it again later, once our food has had time to properly digest itself."

"Suit yourself." Ymir picked up her slice of pizza again.

"It would have been nice if you had told us beforehand." Hitch said. "We were getting worried. Hell, I thought that you had ditched us and had nearly left."

"You have so little faith in me." Ymir took another bite of her pizza, tearing a pepperoni in half. "Was I really gone that long?"

"Yes." Hitch responded.

"Damn, then I really must be late. By now Hannah and Franz have gotten married and had three little babies and a house, Hitch got around to doing her homework, and Sasha ate most of the bread sticks. I sure have missed out on a lot."

Hannah turned red and Hitch shook her head.

"Hey, at least it was long enough to where Sasha didn't eat my slice of pizza."

"I'm really not that hungry any longer." Sasha said.

"That's a first," Ymir replied. "So, where's Connie?"

"He couldn't make it; he had to go to help his dad at his shop."

"Poor guy."

At that moment, Marco appeared in the corner of her eye. She grinned. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon sticks hung in the air, along with the ever present scent of pizza. Her other friends had already finished eating.

Thank you karma and Professor Zoe, Ymir thought. You just got me some free cinnamon sticks.

* * *

It was around eight when Ymir's phone vibrated. She looked up from her calculus worksheet to check to see who it was from.

What does Hannah want at this time of night? Ymir thought, swiping the screen of her phone.

HEY, the beginning of the text read. CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? Ymir responded.

See, Ymir thought, for once I replied to you. A smirk formed on her face, even if Hannah could not get the chance to see it.

She finished the last part of her problem before her phone vibrated once more. Dropping her pencil, she grabbed her phone and turned it on once more.

WHO IS THAT LITTLE BLONDE GIRL YOU'RE ALWAYS HANGING OUT WITH? IS SHE NEW? I HAVEN'T SEEN HER BEFORE.

For a moment, Ymir's fingers hung above her phone's screen, never touching the iPhone's keyboard. She returned to her home screen, and absently looked over her apps, trying to think of some way to reply.

When that didn't work, she did an entire problem before finally picking up her phone and replying. Somehow, Ymir had managed to procrastinate on doing her homework by texting and then procrastinating on texting by doing her homework. She had gone full circle, and surely if Hitch knew she would be impressed.

HER NAME IS KRISTA AND SHE IS NEW. SHE'S PRETTY CUTE.

Ymir placed her phone down and did another problem. Whatever Hannah would do with that information, Ymir did not know.

Her phone vibrated.

SOMEBODY HAS A CRUSH.

I JUST THINK THAT SHE'S CUTE.

She turned off her phone and finished the rest of her paper. If Hannah replied, then Ymir didn't bother to check. She needed to get her worksheet done if she wanted to watch some YouTube videos for a while before going to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Ymir's earlier theory was proven correct. When she arrived at her fourth day of school, only twenty seconds away from the bell ringing and the other students rushing to get to their locker before their first class started filled the hallway, Ymir noticed the yellow poster above the water fountain was gone. In its place was the school's bland, sad looking walls. Just like the rest of the school, it had a few days to realize just what a bore the new school year would actually be. It was a shame, really; the colorful decorations and signs, most of which had either already been taken down or fallen off of the walls, had at least added a nice touch of color to the school.

The bell rang, and students rushed to their lockers. Ymir took a drink from the water fountain, taking a good long sip before space was available to leave. The last thing that she needed was to be crushed by a wave of dead eyed freshmen.

When she got to her locker (without being crushed like a pancake by a wave of other students), Hannah was waiting by it. Her books were in her hands - a history and French book.

"What do you want?" Ymir didn't even look at her, just spun the dial of her locker's lock until it clicked and the grey door opened.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I came off kind of rude last night. That's my fault and my fault only."

Ymir froze for a moment, her hands hovering over her chemistry book. "Oh," she finally said. She forced her hands to move, and grabbed her supplies for her first two periods. "Just don't go blabbing about what I typed."

"I won't, Ymir."

Ymir expected the red headed girl to leave. Her first class was across the school, and the school had already started to crack down on tardy students.

"What are you staring at me wide eyed for?" Ymir raised an eyebrow, and shut her locker door with her back. She leaned against the cold grey metal, her eyes set on the girl beside her. "What, is there like something wrong with my face? Because I can assure you that I'm not half as bad looking as most of the people at this school."

Hannah chuckled. "I actually came here with news from Hitch. We're having video game night at her house tomorrow, and she was really hoping that you could bring one of your games."

"What kind?" That could have been anything from a game about shooting zombies to an old school Nintendo game.

"Hitch doesn't really care, she just wants everyone to bring some kind of game. I for one want to have a dance off." Hannah smirked. "And hey, feel free to invite your new friend. I want some new competition."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "Only if you want to be beaten by someone who isn't me."

* * *

Ymir had hoped that she would somehow get out of another semester of gym. Just how, she had never worked out the details, but that hadn't been a striking issue. Like always, she had figured either sheer hope (and a lot of it at that) would help her out. If not, then she would find some way to swindle her way out of it.

Neither of those helped her.

She turned, making her second lap. Her red and white sneakers smacked against the pavement, and sweat was already running down her face, forehead, and arms.

Whoever first thought this class was a good idea, Ymir thought, must have been drunk.

Two girls raced past her, and Ymir had to keep herself from falling flat on her face.

"Hey, watch where you two are going!" Ymir roared. She doubted the two bitter rivals, Mikasa Ackerman-Jaeger and Annie Leonheardt, heard her. They were too busy trying to one up the other, even if they were currently at neck to neck.

Some people were competitive in gym class. A few were only focused on getting a good work out to keep their grade an A.

And then there was Ymir, who didn't know if she was angrier at the girls or the sun for being so hot.

She sighed. She still had a few more laps to go. If she could go on for a little while longer then things would be fine; she could get changed out of her sweat covered light blue T-shirt and gym shorts, and get back inside the school where it was air conditioned.

They had said that Coach Pixis could work them hard, but Ymir had forgotten just how hard over the summer.

"Sorry about my sister," Eren said as he jogged past.

Ymir almost replied, but instead stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She put a hand on her knees and bent down, her breath coming out quickly though her mouth. The first week of school and she was already feeling as if she could collapse at any given moment. This had to be a new record.

Whatever, she thought. Let's just get this and the rest of the day over and then I'm free.

The thought got her legs to start moving again. Not very fast, but moving.

One foot in front of the other, she thought. Keep doing this and you'll be just fine.

"You okay?"

Ymir nearly tripped again, but not because two girls nearly knocked her over like a bowling pin. "Krista?"

"Yes?"

Ymir blinked a few times, and yet whenever her eyes again opened she saw the short blond. She actually managed to look cute in gym clothes, wearing black shirts and a light green T-shirt with a smiley face on it. "What are you doing here? I didn't know that you were in this class."

"My schedule got switched around. I just found out this morning." She looked to the ground, her face hidden by shiny blond hair. "The truth is, you're the only person in this class that I remember the name of. Most of these people I don't even know."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ymir grinned. "So what class did you leave?"

"Some sculpting class, which I don't really mind missing. Clay has never really been my thing."

"Well it sounds way better than this." Ymir wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Maybe I can be your own personal cheerleader." She grinned, and then cupped her hands over her mouth. "Give me a Y!"

"Y!" Ymir parroted.

"Give me an M!"

"M!"

"Now give me an I!"

"I, as in me!"

"Now give me an R!"

"R! Hey, you're one of the few people who can actually spell my name."

Krista laughed. "I've seen you write it down a couple times. And hey, I know how you feel. Everyone thinks my name starts with a C."

"You know, I like having my own little cheerleader. Feel free to stick around."

Krista smiled. "I'll definitely be sure too. Now come on." She motioned for Ymir to head forward. "We need to run a little faster if we want the teacher to give us an A."

* * *

By the time class ended and Ymir had changed back into her regular school clothes, she was sweat free and her dark hair was again combed. If she had to say so, taking a look at herself in one of the locker room's mirrors, she looked pretty good. Her normally dark messy hair was neat again, and her naturally dark skin was both sweat and pimple free. For once, she actually looked as if she had survived gym class (even if the clock had seemed to move a little slower than usual, even with Krista around).

Once the two were out the locker room doors, Krista walked over beside her.

"I had a lot of fun today. See you tomorrow at school?"

"Definitely!" Ymir replied. "And not just at school either."

"Huh? What do you mean?" She looked as if she was ready to move, but her feet remained firmly on the ground.

"My friends and I are having a video game night at Hitch's house. You're certainly invited."

Krista's blue eyes widened. "Oh yes, yes, yes! That would be great, and I'd actually have something to do."

Ymir grinned. The other girl's excitement was infectious. "Then I'll make sure to text you the directions."


	5. Chapter 5

Krista's eyes flickered from the dry erase board and her notebook (in which she had barely written down anything and doodled a number of smiley faces) to the clock on the wall. She had never understood why teachers complained about students constantly looking at the clock when they made the clock so easy to see. She didn't even have to turn her head to see it, just dart her eyes over to the large black and white clock on the wall.

The clock currently read that it was only five minutes after two-thirty. Only twenty-five minutes remained until the bell rang and the first weekend of the school year arrived. Other students seemed antsy as well; the girl in front of her shook one of her legs under the table, and a boy a few seats in front of her constantly checked his watch.

The teacher droned on, though Krista just barely paid attention, catching a few words here and there. It wasn't as if she couldn't just borrow someone's notes later. And she would do that - later.

Hurry up, hurry up, she thought.

Could the clock move any slower?

Ever since she had been invited the day before, Krista had been counting down the time until the party. Ymir had even promised to drive her in a text from the night before.

She reached her hand into her pocket, wrapping her fingers around her phone. They stayed firmly wrapped around it, though Krista did not pull it from her pocket. Her teacher had already confiscated two phones earlier, and she didn't want to have hers taken away right before the weekend.

She bit her lip. She had never been one to try and get on a teacher's bad side, but he was so busy writing on the board...

Quickly, she pulled it from her pocket and kept it in her lap. Looking down, she checked the time on the screen and saw no new messages. Just as soon as her phone was out, it was back inside her pocket.

She checked the clock once more.

I guess the clock is right on time then. Krista thought. Her phone and the clock matched perfectly.

The teacher continued writing on the board. Krista looked back to the few notes that she had written down and began to retread them. It wasn't the most exciting thing to do, but she had to pass the time somehow without risking getting in trouble.

* * *

Ymir bit her lip and slowed her pace. Krista was humming, her feet doing a slight mix of walking and skipping.

What will she think of my car? Ymir thought.

It had been a birthday gift from her mother, given to her over the summer. Truly, Ymir had been touched by the gift, and thanked her mother for giving Ymir her own set of wheels, but her mother did not exactly have the cash to get anything new or fancy.

It was not a bad car by any means. Though it was used, it had few dents and a nice enough paint job. The seats were soft, the air conditioning, heater, radio, and CD player all worked, and it had never been in a wreck. It always started and didn't suck gas. Still, it wasn't the cleanest on the inside. Those food wrappers couldn't have been carelessly tossed out of the window (Ymir did not need a ticket for littering), but it was only then that she realized that she couldn't just keep the wrappers in her car either.

A lump rose in Ymir's throat, and her hands felt suddenly sweaty. The temperature seemed a few degrees higher, and she no longer could even look over at the blond.

Sasha, Hitch, Hannah, and Connie had all rode in her car before countless times (and had far too many fights over who got to ride shotgun than Ymir could count). At most, Hitch had complained. Ymir had rolled her eyes and let the words go in one ear and out the other. After all, Hitch complained about anything and everything.

Ymir's eyes locked with her car. "There she is, the Grand Duchess herself."

"You named your car?" Krista laughed.

Ymir's cheeks burned. "Well, uh, yeah." Her eyes ended up on her own reflection from the car's window. "I was just really excited to have her, er it. I guess I just got so happy that the idea of naming her - it - seemed like the normal thing to do."

"I like your version of normal." Krista grinned. "It sounds better than the regular normal."

Ymir's cheeks cooled and a smile spread across her lips. "Come inside. The passenger seat is all yours." She pulled her keys from her bag and clicked the unlock button. "First up, though, do you want to throw your backpack in the back?"

Krista nodded.

Ymir pulled the door open. The floor was dirty, covered in a sea of old food wrappers and magazines. Krista's eyes widened, but she made no comment and put her backpack up on the clean, empty seats. Ymir did the same afterwards.

What color are my car rugs again? Ymir thought.

Well, she couldn't find out now. She had a (really cute) guest with her, so she would just (desperately) need to clean her car out again later.

The two got inside the car and buckled their seat belts. Ymir turned on the radio and the air conditioner, but waited a few minutes for some other cars to leave the small school parking lot before backing out herself.

"So," Ymir said, looking over to her rear view mirror.

"So what?" Krista shot her a confused glance, her blue eyes wide.

"Hitch isn't expecting us to be over at her house for a little while. Until then, she has things to get ready. If you think my car is bad, then wait until you see Hitch's house."

Krista laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

Ymir shook her head, whipping her dark ponytail back and forth. "Nope, I just like to exaggerate. It makes life a little more interesting, you know?" She slowed her car as the traffic light changed from green to yellow. "Anyway, she really does need a little time to get things ready. How about we celebrate with some end of the first week ice cream? I know a great little shop that serves the best ice cream in the world."

"I would love to go with you, Ymir!" Krista raised an eyebrow. "But what do you mean by 'best ice cream in the world'? You aren't exaggerating on that one, are you?"

"Maybe." Ymir smirked. "Maybe not. I personally love the ice cream, and you might just see the light once you try it."

"Maybe," Krista parroted. "Maybe not!"

The two laughed, and the last remaining strands of worry vanished from Ymir altogether.

* * *

By the time the two got to Hitch's house, Krista had learned that Ymir had not exaggerated in the slightest. That ice cream had been wonderful, the store a little hidden away gem in between a shoe store and a hair salon. She ate two chocolate and vanilla swirl cones before deciding on taking a cup of strawberry ice cream to go.

"Good idea," Ymir commented, gesturing over to the white styrofoam cup in Krista's hands. "That stuff is definitely better than whatever Hitch has stuffed inside her freezer."

Krista wiped a bit of ice cream from the sides of her lip before leaving the car, using a napkin that she had brought from the shop.

"Just throw your napkin in the back, Krista. Believe me, it won't bother me."

Krista hesitated for a moment, holding her napkin over the back but never letting it leave her fingers.

"I'm serious." Ymir smirked. She was already standing up, her car door still open. Her hands were stuffed into the front pockets of her denim jeans. "I won't be mad at you if you do."

Krista let the napkin fall. It fell in a heap, and blended in with the rest of the forgotten trash inside of the car.

Krista got out, slamming the car door behind her.

As Ymir locked the car, Krista surveyed the house. It wasn't bad, a two story red brick home with a big front lawn. There were two large trees, which blocked part of the house, but enough to where Krista could tell that the outside looked rather neat.

"Hey," Hitch said when she opened the door. Her blond hair was messy, and she wiped a bit away from her eyes. "The other girls are already playing." Her eyes fell over Krista, and she grinned. "I didn't think that Ymir would actually bring a guest. Welcome to my place, and the name is Hitch." She reached her hand out.

Krista put her own hand out, expecting to shake but instead getting hit by a sudden high five. "Hello, Hitch. My name is Krista. Ymir has told me a bit about you."

"Oh, really? What?" She raised an eyebrow.

Ymir rolled her eyes and grunted. "Nothing that you don't already know, Hitch. Can we get in already?"

Hitch opened the door wider. "Be my guest."

Inside, it looked a bit better than what Krista had first imagined after hearing Ymir's earlier words. The TV room was large, and the flat screen TV, which covered half of the wall it stuck on, showed off a colorful game. Krista recognized the red head and brown haired girl that Ymir hung out with, though she had yet to catch their names.

"Guess who finally showed up?" Hitch said, following after the two.

"Hey!" the brown haired girl called.

"Did you bring a game?" the red head asked.

"Oh yeah," Ymir pulled a game disk from her pocket.

"You had that in your pockets all day?" Krista's eyes widened. How big were her pockets? Krista could just barely fit in her phone.

"Just be glad that she didn't have anything worse."

"Has anyone ever told you what a great comedian you are, Hitch?" Ymir asked.

"What do you mean?"

She smirked. "I'll take that as a no!"

Krista laughed. Hitch turned red, and Krista laughed harder. Ymir joined in.

"Come on," Hitch said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Let's play what Ymir brought. It's officially game night, and I want to try out something new."


	6. Chapter 6

Krista left the TV room, stepping into the darkened hallway. It took her eyes a moment to adjust (and a good deal of blinking). Once she was finished, she stretched out her limbs a little and walked towards the general direction of where she guessed to be the kitchen. It was dark enough that she supposed that she could hide if needed. That seemed easier (and far less embarrassing) than explaining that she got lost. However, everyone else was in the TV room.

The group of girls had been shooting zombies for what Krista guessed to be roughly over an hour. It had seemed like a freaky game at first, but Krista had gradually gotten used to it while watching Ymir and Hitch play on the double team mode together. Both were good at it, shooting away with accuracy and precision, and sending those pixelated zombies back to the graves that they crawled out of.

Luckily, Krista was able to find the kitchen quickly and with relative ease. Once inside, she flicked on a light, feeling for the switch by running her hand along the wall. One bright white bulb turned on, giving the kitchen a soft glow.

The kitchen was new looking, with appliances that only looked to be five years old at best. The fridge was covered in magnets and papers, and a stack of dirty dishes was set up by the sink. The neon blue clock installed on the stove read that it was just a little bit after eight.

Krista quickly found the cups and prepared herself a glass of water, adding ice cubes from the freezer. She had been fine watching others play video games, but the moment that she herself had started attacking digital zombies, a thirst had begun to form in her throat, which she could now no longer ignore.

Though the TV room was a small ways away, Krista could hear her friends laughing and squealing about something. She had made sure to give someone else a turn on playing Reliving before she left.

Turning back towards the door, she took a sip of her water.

It was only when she was at the door frame that she noticed the presence of someone else. Truthfully, it was hard not to - she did bump into them, sending water flying forward.

"Ugh," the person said. The sound of water dripping filled Krista's ears. "This is just my luck, isn't it?"

Krista looked up. "Ymir? I'm so sorry!" She clutched the glass tighter in her hand; at least she could be thankful that she hadn't dropped that and sent glass flying everywhere. "What are you doing here?"

Ymir looked up from where she had been trying (and failing) to wipe water from her T-shirt. She smirked, cocking her head slightly to the side. "You know, I really think that I should be asking the same of you." Her eyes wondered down to the newly made, large puddle of water on the floor. "Then again, I think I can guess why."

"Do you need a napkin? I can get you one! Or do you need a change of shirts? Oh man, I don't have anything. Not that it would fit you since you're so much taller than me. Hey, maybe someone else has something." Krista's mind went blank for a moment. Did anyone there actually have clothes that would fit the tall, lanky girl?

Ymir chuckled. "Keep talking like that and you could write a whole book about me." She stepped forward, moving over the water puddle with ease. "I just came here to grab some snacks; come on, you deserve to have a little more water. Maybe I could use some too."

Krista nodded, averting her eyes once more to the ground. Every time she tried to look back at Ymir, memories of her recent babbling and accident flooded her mind, turning her cheeks a deep shade of pink.

Ymir had already turned away, and was grabbing some paper towels. She walked over and wiped up the spill with ease.

"You didn't have to do that." Krista bit her lip. "I could have."

Ymir shrugged. "Don't worry about it; I just wanted to make sure that no one here tripped and broke their heads open on this. Not everyone has brains that they can spill out, after all!" She threw her paper towels away and then went over and opened the door of a pantry. Krista had seen it when she walked in but hadn't bothered to open it. Inside was enough food to last months; it was tightly packed together. Though it had no actual ordering, Ymir quickly and easily went through it, grabbing whatever she felt she or the other girls might possibly need. When she finished, she shut it and balanced the different foods in her hands.

"Well, are you getting more water?"

Krista shook her head, and quickly went over and put away her cup. "No, I guess that I don't feel like drinking some any longer. That accident bothered me."

"Oh, don't get too worked up over it. It's no big deal." Ymir grinned. "But hey, if you feel like trying to earn back your forgiveness then you can carry some of this stuff for me."

Krista's face lit up. "Oh yes, certainly!" She grabbed a box of crackers, a package of cookies, and a bag of candy from Ymir's hands. The other girl relaxed when the extras left her hands, just before they were near the point of falling down.

"So, having fun?"

Krista nodded. "I like it."

"We're going to be playing a different game soon. That's okay with you, right?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Thanks for coming."

"I should be thanking you." Krista smiled. It felt strange, standing beside Ymir at that moment. Their eyes locked, and Ymir gave her this huge smile that made Krista's chest flutter. "I'm having a lot of fun tonight."

"Good," Ymir replied. "No, awesome. So, ready to play again? You were pretty good back there."

"Definitely!"

* * *

All she saw now were bright colors, princesses in race carts, and plumbers doing anything but plumbing. The group of girls had played another horror game for a while, and then stopped and pulled out another of Ymir's horror games. Truthfully, Krista hadn't found it all too scary. There were a few shocking parts, but she hadn't seen anything that made her want to scream so loud that the whole neighborhood could hear her like Hitch and Sasha had.

After that, Sasha had all but demanded that they change the game to something else.

"Something less gory," she said. She had rubbed her stomach, her dark eyes on the ground. "I want to keep my food down."

"Yeah," Hitch had backed her up. "That was fun for a while, but now I'm sick of it." She had scrunched her nose up. "It's getting kind of boring."

"Yeah," Ymir had responded, a smirk forming on her lips. "It's getting kind of boring listening to all of you scream your little heads off. My ears hurt."

Outside of the room and back in the kitchen, she turned on her phone. Krista didn't bother to flick on a light switch this time, just used her cell phone. The kitchen around her was lit just slightly, and shadows danced everywhere.

There were a few new texts on her phone, all from her father and step mother. She read through them, skimming over most of them. It was the standard where are you, what are you doing kind of texts.

I'M SPENDING THE NIGHT, she typed out to Rachel.

It wasn't a lie. The hour was late, and she doubted any of her friends felt like driving home. Hitch had even pulled out some blankets and pillows and said that the floor was all theirs (just don't wake up and use all of the hot water).

The floor didn't look like the most comfortable place in the world, but it seemed one hundred times more welcoming than her bed back home.

She turned off her phone and headed back towards the TV room, back to where her friends were crying about blue shells and banana peels, when her phone vibrated.

YOU KNOW WE'RE BUSY TOMORROW MORNING, RIGHT? HOW WILL I KNOW THAT YOU'LL BE READY AT NINE? -RACHEL

Krista rolled her eyes from the start, and finally let out a sigh at where she had signed her name at the end. Always proper, her step mother was.

I'LL BE THERE. DON'T WORRY. Krista's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, wondering if she should jot down a quick lie. She could claim that her driver was busy or that she had heard that the roads were dangerous at night because other drivers ignored the speed limits. However, she instead just shut off her phone. Rachel could whine, and her father might send her an angry text of her own, but for once she didn't care.

Tonight was too good to end early.

Krista stuffed her phone into her pocket and walked back to the TV room. Her fingers itched for a controller, and she could only imagine how the next few rounds would go.


End file.
